👊 Violent crime
The offender uses or threatens force against a person. Examples: murder, assault, and robbery (taking something by force or threat).
Crime, Deviance and Control » Types of Crime
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Cambridge spec: 6.1.5
- Define eleven types of crime and give an example of each
- Tell crimes apart by what is harmed, who does them and why
- Explain why one crime can fit more than one type
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Unlock This CourseSorting crimes into types
There are thousands of different crimes. Sociologists sort them into types so they can study them, count them and compare them. A type may be based on what is harmed (a person, property or the environment), who commits it (a gang, a company), where it happens (online, across borders) or why it is done (for money or because of emotion).
Remember that crime is an act that breaks the law, and the law differs between societies. The examples below are typical, not true everywhere.
Key terms:
- Violent crime: a crime in which a person is harmed, or threatened with harm, by force.
- Property crime: a crime in which someone's property is stolen or damaged.
- White-collar crime: crime committed by people in respectable, usually well-paid jobs, in the course of their work.
- Corporate crime: crime committed by a company, or on its behalf, to benefit the company.
Crimes against people and property
🔒 Property crime
The aim is to take or damage property, with no force needed against a person. Examples: burglary, shoplifting, arson and vandalism.
Robbery is a violent crime and a property crime at once, because force is used to take property.
Crimes of the powerful
White-collar crime is hidden behind a respectable job. The term was made famous by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland. Examples are an accountant who steals from a client, a bank worker who takes money from customers' accounts, or a manager who lies on a tax form.
Corporate crime is similar, but the offender is the company itself. The company breaks the law to make more profit. Examples include a firm that hides a safety fault in its product, a company that pays workers less than the legal minimum, or one that lies about its accounts.
Spot the difference
White-collar crime is usually done by an individual, often for personal gain. Corporate crime is done by or for an organisation, for the benefit of that organisation. Both are often less visible than street crime, and victims may not know they have been harmed.
Why the crime is done
😡 Expressive crime
Done to express feelings such as anger, jealousy or frustration. There is no plan for profit. Example: smashing a car window in a rage after an argument, or a fight that starts in the heat of the moment.
🎯 Instrumental crime
Done as a tool, or means to an end, to get something, usually money or goods. It is planned. Example: breaking into a shop at night to steal stock to sell.
Tip to remember: expressive = emotion, instrumental = instrument (a tool to get something). The same act can be either. Hitting someone in a fit of anger is expressive. Hitting a shopkeeper to get the till money is instrumental.
Crimes by groups and across borders
- Gang crime: crime carried out by members of a group, often young people, with a shared identity. Examples: fighting over territory, selling illegal goods, or stealing from shops together. The gang may also give its members status and loyalty.
- Global crime: serious crime that crosses national borders, often run by organised crime groups. Examples: smuggling illegal drugs between continents, arms trafficking and human trafficking. Globalisation and the internet have made it easier to organise.
- Green crime: crime that harms the environment or wildlife. Examples: illegal dumping of toxic waste, illegal logging of forests, and poaching of protected animals such as elephants for ivory.
Crimes in modern and personal settings
💻 Cyber crime
Crime carried out using computers or the internet. Examples: hacking into accounts, phishing emails that trick people into giving passwords, online fraud and identity theft.
🤝 Hate crime
A crime motivated by hostility towards a person's ethnicity, religion, disability, sexuality or gender identity. Example: vandalising a place of worship or attacking someone because of their religion.
🏠 Domestic crime
Crime within the home, between family members or partners. Examples: domestic violence and abuse, and threatening or controlling behaviour. It is often hidden and under-reported.
Domestic violence was covered from a feminist view in the lesson Feminist Views of the Family. Here, you only need to know it is a type of crime and give an example.
Crimes can overlap
The types are not separate boxes. One crime can fit several types at once.
- A hacker who steals money from bank accounts commits cyber crime and instrumental crime, and may be part of a global organised crime group.
- A gang that attacks someone because of their ethnicity commits gang, violent and hate crime together.
- A firm that pours waste into a river commits corporate crime and green crime.
Worked example
Question: Identify the types of crime in this case. Members of a local gang with a shared name and territory set fire to a closed-down garage because they were angry.
Answer: Property crime (arson damages property), gang crime (carried out by a group) and expressive crime (done out of feelings, not for profit).
Common mistakes
1. Mixing up expressive and instrumental. Ask: is it emotion, or a means to get something? 2. Saying white-collar and corporate crime are the same. One is a person, the other is a company. 3. Giving only a name with no example. Always add one clear example. 4. Writing "hate crime is any crime against a minority". It must be motivated by prejudice.
Exam-style question
Answer all parts. This follows the style of the Paper 2 crime questions.
(a) (i) Define the term green crime. [2]
(ii) Define the term instrumental crime. [2]
(b) Give two examples of cyber crime. [2]
(c) Explain three differences between white-collar crime and violent crime. [6]
Model answer
(a)(i) Green crime is crime that harms the environment (1), such as illegal dumping of waste or poaching of wildlife (1).
(ii) Instrumental crime is crime committed as a means to an end (1), usually to gain money or goods (1).
(b) Hacking into someone's account (1). Phishing emails that trick people into giving their password (1).
(c) Any three developed differences, for example: White-collar crime is done by people in respectable jobs (1), while violent crime can be done by anyone (1). White-collar crime usually harms victims financially (1), whereas violent crime harms them physically (1). White-collar crime is done in the course of work (1), such as fraud by an accountant, but violent crime uses force or threats (1).
Exam tip
For part (c), write each difference as a pair: "White-collar crime is... whereas violent crime is...". A direct comparison earns the second mark.